Survey of motives and responsibles for secundary school adolescents' first contact with psychoactive substances

Abstract

This study aimed to: a) explore the reasons presented by adolescents for their first contact with drugs and the people responsible for introducing them to the use of such substances. Participants were 568 adolescents, who completed a self-completion questionnaire that preserved participants anonymity. The result analysis involved: a) descriptive distribution of sample variables; b) chi-square test. We found that curiosity was the main reason for adolescents to use drugs for the first time and that friends were responsible for their first consumption. These data present significant information for the development of preventive strategies against addiction during adolescence.